The Sonic is the replacement for the Chevrolet Aveo5, an ode to motoring mediocrity if there ever was one. But now that the Spark is taking over as Chevy's smallest and cheapest car, the Aveo -- sorry, the Sonic -- has room to grow. I like the styling -- there's something vaguely old-school Italian about the headlights -- but I'm really excited about the powertrain: The Sonic will offer the 1.4 liter turbo engine from the Cruze, and as my test drive of the Cruze Eco showed, that's one snapper of a motor when paired with a manual transmission. If the suspension engineers do their job right, we could have a very good little hot hatchback on our hands. And if they don't... well, at least Avis and Hertz will be happy to see the new Sonic.
Was it worth waiting for? 2012 Cevrolet Sonic test drive
